In a decisive Game 3 that had Yankee Stadium roaring from the first pitch, the New York Yankees delivered a masterful shutout victory over the Boston Red Sox, sealing the AL Wild Card Series with a 5-0 win. Rookie sensation Cam Schlittler took the mound for New York and simply dominated, fanning 12 Boston batters over eight innings while allowing just four hits. It was the kind of performance that turns heads and buries rivals, especially against a team as storied and stubborn as the Red Sox.
Aroldis Chapman, the flame-throwing closer now anchoring Boston's bullpen, entered the fray in the late innings hoping to spark some magic. But it wasn't to be. After Schlittler's gem, the Yankees tacked on insurance runs in the sixth, capitalizing on a costly error by Red Sox shortstop Trevor Story that let two unearned tallies cross the plate. Chapman, who had notched a tense four-out save in Game 1 to give Boston the early series lead, faced the minimum in his brief appearance but couldn't stem the tide of New York's momentum. Indeed, the lefty's fastball still hummed at 100 mph, yet the Yankees' bats—led by Aaron Judge's towering homer in the third—proved too potent overall.
The series had been a nail-biter from the start. Boston stole Game 1 behind Garrett Crochet's 11-strikeout masterpiece, then watched New York claw back in Game 2 with a 4-3 comeback fueled by J.T. Realmuto's clutch double. However, Thursday night's finale exposed the Red Sox's vulnerabilities, particularly in the field and against Schlittler's unhittable slider. For Chapman, signed by Boston in the offseason to fortify their late-game edge, the loss stings with playoff implications—his ERA ballooned slightly to 2.45 across the three games, but the bigger picture is a team sent packing early.
New York now gears up for the ALDS against the Toronto Blue Jays, where Schlittler's poise could carry them far. Yet for Boston fans, this rivalry renewal ends in familiar frustration. What does it say about a postseason where rookies steal the spotlight from veterans like Chapman?